In a scheduling quirk, the Spurs and Mavericks will complete their four-game season series on Dec. 16.

In a scheduling quirk, the Spurs and Mavericks will complete their four-game season series on Dec. 16.

Photo: Edward A. Ornelas / San Antonio Express-News

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Deshaun Watson’s injury ruined the Houston Texans’ season.

Deshaun Watson’s injury ruined the Houston Texans’ season.

Photo: Chris Keane /Associated Press

Writers’ roundtable: Can Houston unseat Golden State?

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The Spurs get their first glimpse this season of the new-look Houston Rockets on Friday. Is Houston a legitimate threat to unseat Golden State in the West?

Orsborn: I keep harkening back to how bad James Harden looked in losing in six games to the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals last season. The Warriors are filled with guys who deliver in the playoffs, so I just can’t see the Rockets getting past them, or a healthy Spurs team for that matter.

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Young: Over the last year, the Rockets have proven they can stay with the Warriors in the scoring department. We’ve witnessed that again when the Rockets beat the Warriors in the first game this season. It’s never about scoring with Houston. Defense is the question. The Warriors can score, but they also can defend at a high level. Can the Rockets do the same? Not just in spurts, but for 48 minutes? This is where the addition of guys like P.J. Tucker, a physical defender, will benefit Houston. If the Rockets can continue to defend at a high level (right now among the top 10 in defensive rating), they will challenge the Warriors. It could very well come down to Game 6 in a seven-game series. But Golden State is too deep. Hard to pick against the defending champions. But the Rockets could be a threat.

McDonald: I’m still going with the champs until proven otherwise, but the Rockets have emerged as the clear second-best team in the West through the quarter mark. And yes, I realize the Spurs have been playing without their best player in Kawhi Leonard. Still, the James Harden-Chris Paul pairing has meshed more seamlessly than most of us expected. The real secret to Houston’s success, however, comes with Eric Gordon in the mix. Many of the top teams will have a pair of perimeter defenders able to at least attempt to guard two of those three guys. Few teams have enough elite defenders to contain all three. Houston’s offense is something to behold.

Finger: If anyone is a legitimate threat, the Rockets are. Even though it still is difficult to imagine anyone knocking off the Warriors if they stay healthy and motivated, Harden is playing the best basketball of his career, and the addition of Paul has made Houston even more formidable. As of right now, the Rockets at least are the odds-on favorites to make the conference finals, although the return of Kawhi Leonard to the Spurs’ lineup eventually could change that.

The season series with Dallas ends on Saturday when the Spurs meet the Mavs for the fourth time in the first 30 games of the season. Should the NBA do more to avoid these types of scheduling quirks or is it a non-factor?

Orsborn: I really don’t have a problem with it because it appears to be just that — a quirk. It’s an oddity that doesn’t seem to happen often, so I don’t think a big deal should be made of it. Ideally, meetings between rivals like the Spurs and Mavericks should be spread out, but if it happens every so often, so be it.

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Young: Non-factor. The Mavericks are not playoff contenders. The team always plays hard, and watching them play the Spurs is always a fun game. But Dallas is no threat in the Southwest Division. Get the bad games out of the way. ESPN even dropped the Dec. 12 contest. That game is not national TV worthy. Very few would watch. No problem with the season series ending sooner rather than later.

McDonald: It’s a quirk for sure, but it doesn’t bother me. There are so many moving parts that go into making an NBA schedule, you can only complain about so much.

Finger: Ideally those games would be spaced out over the course of a season. But on the list of challenges and complaints about NBA scheduling, this quirk is low on the list. Given all of the hockey games, concerts and rodeos that need to be worked around, it’s far from a simple process, and the emphasis needs to continue to be placed on limiting back-to-backs, as well as those stretches when teams play five games in seven days, like the Spurs did last week.

Despite missing almost the entire 2017 regular season, now healthy offensive lineman extraordinaire Connor Williams opted to skip Texas’ bowl game and will enter the draft. What do you think of the burgeoning trend of future NFL players bypassing bowl games?

Orsborn: If coaches can leave their teams for other jobs before bowl season begins, players should be able to do the same. While it would be wonderful if the be-true-to-your-school outlook prevailed, it’s hard to ask a player to put their livelihood and their family’s future at risk when so much money is at stake.

Young: The same thing I think about coaches skipping bowl games and negotiating contracts while still on the job. I could care less. If a player wants to avoid injury and concentrate on the next stage in his football career, why should anyone have a problem with that? It’s not like it’s the national championship game. It’s the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl. It’s insignificant. Williams should do what he feels best for his future. If that means skipping this bowl game, do it.

McDonald: The players aren’t getting paid for playing in their bowl game. I have no problem with any player wanting to protect his financial future, especially when it comes to skipping some of these lower-tier bowls.

Finger: Who can complain about it? Certainly not the dozens of college coaches who leave their programs before bowl games to take other jobs. Certainly not the college programs that don’t allow athletes to collect on their market value while they are in school. Bowl games are meaningless exhibitions, and if a player wants to take steps to protect his future, that is his right. Two years ago, Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith lost an estimated $15 million due to a knee injury suffered in a bowl game. Last year, Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette became Top 10 picks after skipping bowls. It’s hard to blame them.

With stars J.J. Watt and Deshaun Watson out for the year, the Houston Texans season has become largely irrelevant. In instances like this, where injures ravage a franchise, should NFL teams be compelled to offer some sort of refund to season-ticket holders?

Orsborn: Injuries are part of the game, so, as Gregg Popovich would say, quit your whining and deal with it, or words to that effect. And who is to say that the injury doesn’t reveal a more talented, productive, entertaining backup? That’s what happened when Arena League-ex Kurt Warner replaced Trent Green as the St. Louis Rams quarterback after the two-time Pro Bowl pick suffered a season-ending injury in the 1999 preseason. And what about teams that overcome injuries and write dramatic, successful finishes. That’s what happened when the Green Bay Packers overcame placing 15 players on injured reserve during the course of the season to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV after the 2010 season. The Packers entered the playoffs as a sixth-seed and severely banged-up, but their next-man-up philosophy prevailed, allowing them to set a standard for other injury depleted teams to follow.

Young: Only if ticket holders agree to an increase in prices every season a team advances to the postseason. Consumers know what they are getting into when they purchase season tickets. Nothing is guaranteed. Besides, fans can put their tickets on the market and usually always find buyers. So, in a way they are getting reimbursed, though, there could be a small loss. No refund from the NFL is needed.

McDonald: Injuries come with the territory. Fans should know this when plunking down for season tickets. Buyer beware.

Finger: Caveat emptor, people. I am not typically inclined to take the side of management, but fans realize injuries are part of the deal when they sign up for season tickets. The price is agreed upon from the beginning, with the understanding that the performance of the team is not guaranteed. After all, the Texans would not be able to demand extra money in December if the team suddenly looked like a Super Bowl contender.

Did UTSA have a legitimate case to make for getting a bowl bid after going 6-5 this season?

Orsborn: Bowls are about entertainment, and it’s hard to make a case for a UTSA team whose offense failed to score a touchdown in its final two games. Couple the Roadrunners finishing with a losing record in Conference USA and struggling against FBS teams, and it’s really a no-brainer

Young: On the one hand, the answer is no. The Roadrunners overall record is just OK and finishing 3-5 in the conference is not good enough. But a look back at last season, though UTSA had a better conference record, they finished 6-6 to advance to the New Mexico Bowl. This season, they also played one less game. Had UTSA played and beat Houston, and every other outcome remained, that’s a 7-5 record. Louisiana Tech is advancing to a bowl game with a 6-6 overall record. So, one can make the argument UTSA had a legitimate case. Bowl selections are so confusing.

McDonald: With a seemingly endless list of bowl options now available, you would think any team that won six games would get in. But you’ve got to make your own luck. You want to be a shoo-in for a bowl? Win seven games.

Finger: Sure, the Roadrunners had an argument. But given the way they finished the season, losing three of their last four games while going more than eight quarters without a touchdown, they also forfeited their right to complain. That slump, combined with the fact that the Roadrunners still are not the kind of big-name, big-ticket draw that would force a bowl to select them, sealed their fate.